Ormund Baratheon
Ormund Baratheon is the fourthborn of Ortys Baratheon and brother of the current Lord Paramount of Storm's End. Appearance A man of towering height, visible muscular build, short, curly hair and blemish skin - pale and weary, but not necessarily unattractive. A sharp, angular face and visible Habsburg jaw. A reddened scar runs across his back, connecting two key points of a sword cut. History Ormund Baratheon was born in the Baratheon fold in Storm’s End, year 341 AC to Lord Ortys Baratheon and Lady Myranda Mertyns. He is the brother of the current Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. Being the fourthborn of House Baratheon and being deeply overshadowed by his three older brothers, the young Baratheon archetypically adopted the position of a rebellious son, with a staunch eagerness to confront the oldest son of the Baratheon line, his big brother Barristan. Ormund was, in fact, the only Baratheon born to Ortys who had stepped so far out of line. Ormund Baratheon took up a deep interest in tormenting peasants, and courting girls highborn and lowborn alike. With far less responsibility than his firstborn rival, who was always susceptible to punishment even in the case of stepping out of the lordly boundaries a little, Ormund had received the privileges of a Lord but the responsibilities of a buccaneer. Ormund was charismatic, physically superior and had a fairly bad reputation in court. Ormund had a fierce spirit, an inexplicable desire to express his point of view at all times, he had gained a reputation as the child who could be both seen and heard – very easily, it can be said. Ormund never squired for anyone. The lad had a healthy passion for a good fistfight, but in his father’s eyes he could barely swing a sword. Ormund grew bitter and felt more overshadowed than ever. In the end, the young Baratheon, confronted with the burden of being an unnecessary addition to his family as he had never been born to rule, now renewed his fondness of coexisting with the lowborn. What had been utter hell that Ormund had unleashed upon the lowborn of Storm’s End had now transformed into a relation of unwarranted cooperation. There, in the port of Storm’s End he met a person who he would later on be able to trust above all, a former Braavosi first sword named Vaidin Nogarys. The bond with Vaidin grew, in spite of the man being at least ten years older than Ormund. He had a warm look on his face, and skin tanned in such a magnificent shade of gold that no doubt any lady would swoon at the mere sight of him. Ormund saw in him everything that he had wished to be. He didn’t know, however, how he managed to sail to Westeros, and never asked in the first place. He followed him out of pure instinct. The two of them now spent most of their days together. Vaidin taught Ormund how to handle a weapon. They participated in local tourneys together, but his father and the rest of his family knew nothing or little of his relationship with the man… …and that is, until a certain point. Vaidin saw in Ormund a rising storm, but the efforts of his older brother to push him out of the light had ultimately engulfed his potential. Vaidin saw the reflection of his young self in Ormund, but at one point he knew his heart would lead him back to Essos. The Bravoosi acknowledged the Westerosi fourthborn’s dependency on him, and thus had made an offer – for him to come to Essos alongside Vaidin, back to the free cities where he had wondered for most of his life. Ormund was strangely decisive about accepting his offer to join right away, and so the two of them sailed to Braavos together. Fate inevitably led Ormund to the mercenary life. Now suffering from a precarious financial condition and having to deal with the letters of an enraged Lord of Storm’s End, the time called and sooner than later Ormund found himself inside of the Golden Company. Inexperienced and terrible at following orders, the young stag somehow managed to sneak into the mercenary band through Vaidin’s help, and partially through his determination to earn a fortune. At one point, however, the boy had exceeded everyone’s expectation; he had become diligent and proficient with the axe. He was proposed as captain but never saw that shade of glory. Still, it wasn’t his darkest hour, and now his situation was definitely looking up. The storm was brewing in Westeros and as far as House Baratheon went, the pirate crisis had gotten the best of them. King Grazdan, in his fury of the moment, declared war against the whole of Westeros for the death of his wife. The call to arms didn’t go unanswered for any of the Lords of Westeros, and soon enough all of the Great Houses were united against the Stepstones. In the free cities, where Ormund often sought missions in order to increase his wealth, news of Westeros were hard to come by. The free cities still kept profiting as they had before. There was no sign of news from Westeros besides a delayed letter. A letter he had found in Purple Harbour. The endeavor he had engaged in to escape from Braavos had almost gotten him killed. It seemed as if his excuse to go for a piss when in reality he had to meet with a famous Braavosi merchant named Aragorn Blehm. The whole city was surrounded by merchants and the caravan barely managed to escape in the middle of a chase through a risky diversion. The whole trip took about a fortnight and a few more days. By then, Ormund knew he was most likely not needed anymore. He couldn’t arrive there on time, and his older sibling held a foolish thought in his head that Ormund could move his ass all the way from North of Essos to South of Westeros. But when he’d finally arrived there, he was met with a very different type of postbellum cheer. His brother and sister’s death, and the beginning of a family feud that would last until present year. Ormund never made up with Barristan. He hated him and blamed him for their death, although Ormund was just as guilty. The aftermath of the war was bitter and uneventful for Ormund, but not for Barristan who now sought retribution. Timeline * Year 341 AC - Ormund is born. * Year 358 AC - Ormund meets Vaidin. * Year 360 AC - Ormund joins the Golden Company. * Year 365 AC - Ormund returns to Storm's End. * Year 366 AC - Ormund seeks revenge against Barristan; plots against him officially start at this point. * Year 372 AC - Ormund refuses to attend the King's funeral, cursing his name and the Targaryen blood. Family Category:House Baratheon Category:Characters from the Stormlands